CHRONICLE

By NADINE BROZAN

Published: December 10, 1992

A Federal judge has ruled that ALFRED UHRY, author of "Driving Miss Daisy," did not plagiarize the work of HENRY DENKER when he wrote the prize-winning play and movie.

Mr. Denker, who is the author of 28 novels and seven Broadway plays, contended that Mr. Uhry had lifted characters, plot twists and ideas from Mr. Denker's novel and play, "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington." That work was published by G. P. Putnam's in 1979. As a play, it ran for seven performances on Broadway in April 1980. Mr. Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy" opened off Broadway in 1987 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize; the movie won four Academy Awards in 1990.

Judge MICHAEL B. MUKASEY of Federal District Court in Manhattan dismissed the copyright infringement suit on Tuesday. He noted in his decision that both works dealt with "an elderly white Jewish person who in the face of advancing age and resulting loss of independence requires the assistance of a black helper and, after initial resistance, develops a friendship with the helper."

But there the similarities end, the judge said. He said "Driving Miss Daisy" takes place in the South over 30 years and describes how Miss Daisy is unable to overcome the physical ravages of age. "Horowitz and Mrs. Washington," he observed, is based in New York City, where Mr. Horowitz successfully recuperates from a stroke. Mr. Horowitz is overtly racist, but Miss Daisy "resists all suggestions that she harbors racist attitudes," the judge said.

Mr. Denker, who sued the producers of the play (which he never saw) and the producers and distributors of the movie, said yesterday: "I am numb. You don't want to sue anybody, but when I saw the movie I called my lawyer. I based the charges of plagiarism on the story, the characters and their relationships and on certain specific events that happened in my book that also happened in his play. This is not the end by any means."

His lawyer, MELVIN L. WULF, said he had not decided whether to appeal.

JAY COHEN, Mr. Uhry's lawyer, said: "How could it have been plagiarism? 'Driving Miss Daisy' is based on the life of Mr. Uhry's family members in Atlanta."